Chaos Due to Road and Bus Stop Changes
Monday was a good day for drivers to avoid downtown as the re-ordering of streets and bus stops on the west side of San José took place, in what could only be described as compelte "chaos".

The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) decided to, in an effort to better move traffic, eliminate most of the bus stops along Paseo Colón and move a number of routes aloned Avenida 10 the south and Avenida 1 and 3 to the north.

Avenida 10 also is the first route to have a bus lane, a lane specially marked and protected by concrete curbs that is to be used exclusively for buses, eastbound during the mornings and westbound in the afternoons.

The confusion among drivers, both in passenger vehicles and buses, meant traffic jams and buses, sometimes as many as 25, lined up one after each other, slowing moving along the Avenidas.

Those who use buses also were left confused when their bus didn't make the usual stop. All buses that are running along Paseo Colón and Avenida 10 can only make stops at the entrance to the downtown core and at their final destination. The buses running along Paseo Colón stop in front of the 2x1 pizza and then at the Coca Cola. The buses running along Avenida 10 stop in front of Yamuni and then at their final destination. Added to the confusion is that some buses along Paseo Colón can also make a stop in front of the Torre Mercedes, which is now the Scotiabank building, if anyone really cares.

Drivers of the Tuasa and Station Wagon, the two buses that run fron San José to Alajuela, found that the usual 40 minute run into San José from Alajuela took almost 1 1/2 hours yesterday. The Heredia buses also experienced a delay of up to 20 minutes on their route.

With the changes, the only bus that is able to make stops along the Paseo Colon is the Sabana-Cementerio and the Sabana-Estadio buses, which for many, it means an additional bus or taxi to get to their destination along Paseo Colón or Avenida 10.

Eduardo Montero, MOPT vice-minister, said that there was no collapse of the road system yesterday, just a lot of confusion on this first day. The confusion will be less in the coming days as everyone get accustomed to the changes.